The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-09-24


presence of so many noble Saxon fam
lilies at his court, together with his
marriage with her, a noble Saxon
princess, involved him in long and
troublous wars with the Norman in
vaders of England, and embittered
their married life with much care and
anxiety. AT last he was slain in battle
in November, 1893, and she survived
him but short time, dying almost i'm
mediately upon hearing the fatal news.
But she had lived long enough to leave
her impress upon the civilization of
Scotland, at least, if not of the world.
Her eldest daughter, Matilda, be-
came the wife of Henry l., of England,
whose court was the most accomplished
and learned one in Europe at that day.
Her three sons, Edgar, Alexander and
David, successfully occupied the throne
of Scotland. David, the youngest of
these three sons, during the fierce strug-
gle for the Scottish crown, which fol-
lowed the death of his father, sought
refuge with his sister in England, and
the refinement and learning of the court
would seem to have had most salu-
taTy effect upon his character. He ap-
pears to have inherited in large meas
ure the religious feeling and pious SEN
sibility of his mother, Margaret. He
| o,,aooO1o1 70 N NhrOnn fha Hoafh Of
his brother Alexander l., in 1921. AS
the Prince of Cumbria he had already
begun to make his influence felt by the
restoration of the fallen bishOpric of
Glasgow, and the establishment of a
colony of French Benedictine monks
beside his forest castle of Selkirk.
Having espoused the cause of his niece,
Matilda, daughter of Henry l., he at
tempted, after the death of that mon
arch to seat her upon the throne. But
he was defeated in a number of battles,
and finally retreated from the contest,
and allowed Stephen to be seated He
closely adhered to the faith of his
mother, and, when these wars were
over, turned his attention to the carry
ing out of the great and necessary re-
forms which had been begun by his
father, instigated by the religious zeal
of his mother. His desire was to
quell the barbarity of the early Scotch,
and to establish in that country the
civilization and learning of England.
The clergy of the twelfth century were
the teachers, the statesmen, the law
yers, the physicians, the bankers, the
agriculturists, the artists and the en-
gineers of the age. BY wisely endow-
ing bist oprics and mOnasteries, he pre-
vided homes for the only men of learn
ing and culture known to his time, and
by wise legislation brought his realm
as much as possible under their benign
influence. The oldest Scottish paint
ing now kI own TO exist is an illumin-
ated charter 10 the monks of KelsO,
granted by David's grands on, Malcolm,
displaying rude miniatures of the young
kirg and his sanity grandfather. Bu-
chanan, one of the most famous Of
Scotch annalists, says: IF men were to
set themselves TO draw the image Of a
good king they would fall short Of what
David showed himself throughout the
whole course of his life" His life and
reign and character have called out
many eulogiums, all of which unite in
pronouncing him of most noble per-
sonal character, and of many fine pleas
ing traits. He died in May, 1853. He
is often called st. David, though he
was never formally canonized by the
church.
From this one clear wayside light Of
history, we may learn this lesson; there
is always somewhere, somebody stand
ing for the right. Existing somewhere
are always holy centers of light and
truth, and virtue; somewhere there
are men and women living up to the
full measure of Christian manhood and
vomanh God. In spite of struggle and
tumult and wrong in spite of iIjus-
tice and immortality, there are here and
there, happy and holy centers of rest
and peace, of truth and ove. Side by
side with all the evil in the world ex-
lists the good, and the struggle between
them goes on from generation to gener-
alton. Evil may be rampant, outspO-
ken and noisy. Good may be crowded
into a corner, driven out of the great
world to find lOdgment Iowhere bat in
some gentle, Contrite heart; but from
its vantage ground of this one heart, it
will fight the battle of the eternal years
Here and there in the great African
desert the waters bubble up from the
depths below to spread gTeenness and
beauty all about them, and the yellow
sands are dotted with the proofs that
deep down under their dTyness and
dreariness, are the health giving water
veins. So if our individual lives strike
down into any deep, abiding truth, or
faith, or hope; if below the tumultu-
Gus surface of things, our thoughts
reach down to grapple the sure founda-
tions, we shall find that at the heart of
all things abide permanence and peace.
Out of the deep love, the fervent faith
of Margaret, the Queen, came the i'm